US7313241B2 - Hearing aid device, and operating and adjustment methods therefor, with microphone disposed outside of the auditory canal - Google Patents

Hearing aid device, and operating and adjustment methods therefor, with microphone disposed outside of the auditory canal Download PDF

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US7313241B2
US7313241B2 US10/692,231 US69223103A US7313241B2 US 7313241 B2 US7313241 B2 US 7313241B2 US 69223103 A US69223103 A US 69223103A US 7313241 B2 US7313241 B2 US 7313241B2
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signal
microphone
aid device
hearing aid
microphone system
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US20040136541A1 (en
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Volkmar Hamacher
Torsten Niederdränk
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Sivantos GmbH
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Siemens Audiologische Technik GmbH
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    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
    • H04R—LOUDSPEAKERS, MICROPHONES, GRAMOPHONE PICK-UPS OR LIKE ACOUSTIC ELECTROMECHANICAL TRANSDUCERS; ELECTRIC HEARING AIDS; PUBLIC ADDRESS SYSTEMS
    • H04R25/00—Electric hearing aids
    • H04R25/70—Adaptation of deaf aid to hearing loss, e.g. initial electronic fitting
    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
    • H04R—LOUDSPEAKERS, MICROPHONES, GRAMOPHONE PICK-UPS OR LIKE ACOUSTIC ELECTROMECHANICAL TRANSDUCERS; ELECTRIC HEARING AIDS; PUBLIC ADDRESS SYSTEMS
    • H04R2225/00—Details of deaf aids covered by H04R25/00, not provided for in any of its subgroups
    • H04R2225/55—Communication between hearing aids and external devices via a network for data exchange
    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
    • H04R—LOUDSPEAKERS, MICROPHONES, GRAMOPHONE PICK-UPS OR LIKE ACOUSTIC ELECTROMECHANICAL TRANSDUCERS; ELECTRIC HEARING AIDS; PUBLIC ADDRESS SYSTEMS
    • H04R25/00—Electric hearing aids
    • H04R25/40—Arrangements for obtaining a desired directivity characteristic
    • H04R25/407—Circuits for combining signals of a plurality of transducers
    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
    • H04S—STEREOPHONIC SYSTEMS 
    • H04S2420/00—Techniques used stereophonic systems covered by H04S but not provided for in its groups
    • H04S2420/01—Enhancing the perception of the sound image or of the spatial distribution using head related transfer functions [HRTF's] or equivalents thereof, e.g. interaural time difference [ITD] or interaural level difference [ILD]

Definitions

  • the invention also concerns a hearing aid device wearable on the body of a test person, with a signal processing unit and a microphone system disposed outside when the auditory canals of the test subject wears the hearing aid device.
  • a person If a person is located in a natural sound field, sounds reach the eardrums of both ears from different directions with different levels, durations and frequency weighting.
  • the capability of the person to localize (i.e. identify the originating location of) different signal sources in the sound field is based substantially on the existence in the horizontal plane of interaural level and duration differences. For the most part, head shadowing effects and the direction-dependent transmission characteristic of the external ears are responsible for the dependent level and duration differences of the sound incidence direction.
  • the elevation perception localization ability in the vertical direction is based almost exclusively on the elevation-dependent spectral modification of the sound signal through the external ears.
  • in-the-ear (ITE) hearing aid devices can be used, however, with these at best small and medium hearing losses are compensated. Moreover, as a rule they are more expensive than BTE hearing aid devices and are more subject to interfering feedbacks.
  • HRIR Head Related Impulse Response
  • HRTF Head Related Transfer Function
  • the HRTF is a function of four variables: the three spatial coordinates (with regard to the head) and the frequency.
  • HRTFs for the most part measurements are implemented on a synthetic head, for example the KEMAR (Knowles Electronics Mannequin for Acoustical Research).
  • KEMAR Knowles Electronics Mannequin for Acoustical Research
  • An overview of the determination of HRTFs is, for example, known from Yang, Wonyoung, “Overview of the Head-Related Transfer Functions (HRTFs)”, ACS 498B Audio Engineering, The Pennsylvania State University, July 2001.
  • An object of the present invention to improve the capability for localization of a signal source of a test person provided with at least one device.
  • This object is achieved in accordance with the invention in a method to adjust a hearing aid device wearable on the body of a test subject, having a microphone system that is disposed (when the hearing aid device is worn) outside of the auditory canal of the test person, and having a signal processing unit, wherein the test object is exposed to an acoustic signal originating from an external signal source, and the acoustic signal transmitted to the test object is received at a location that corresponds to a location of the test subject at which the microphone system is disposed when the hearing aid device is worn.
  • the acoustic signal transmitted to the test object is received in an auditory canal of the test object and using the received signal, a correction function is determined that, applied to the signal received outside of the auditory canal, at least approximately converts that signal into a signal that corresponds to the signal received in the auditory canal.
  • the filter effect of a filter in the hearing aid device is adjusted so that the correction function is at least approximately implemented in a microphone signal generated by the microphone system.
  • the above object also is achieved in accordance with the invention in a method to operate a hearing aid device wearable on the body of a test subject, having a microphone system disposed outside of the auditory canals of the test subject when the hearing aid device is worn, and having a signal processing unit, wherein an acoustic signal originating from an external signal source is acquired by the microphone system as an acoustic input signal and is transduced into at least one electrical microphone signal, with a signal error arising in the electrical microphone signal (or an electrical signal dependent thereon) that occurs in the acquisition of the acoustic input signal outside of the auditory canal.
  • This signal error at least partially corrected with respect to an acoustic input signal that would generate the same acoustic signal without treatment by a hearing aid device in an auditory canal of the test person, dependent on the direction of the signal source relative to the head of the test person.
  • the corrected electrical microphone signal or the corrected electrical signal ensuing from the microphone signal is further processed and transduced into a hearing aid device output signal and supplied to the test person.
  • a hearing aid device wearable on the body of a test person having a signal processing unit and a microphone system that is disposed (when the hearing aid device is worn) outside of the auditory canals of the test person, via which an acoustic input signal arising from an acoustic signal from at least one external signal source can be acquired and can be at least partially transduced into at least one electrical microphone signal.
  • the hearing aid device has a unit that corrects a signal error, that arises in the electrical microphone signal or a signal dependent thereon due to the acquisition of the acoustic input signal outside of the auditory canals of the test person, with respect to an acoustic input signal acquired, given the same acoustic signal in an auditory canal of the test person.
  • the microphone system of the hearing aid device includes at least one microphone.
  • the microphone system is a directional microphone system includes a number of omnidirectional microphones electrically connected with one another.
  • the sound acquisition via the microphone system must ensue in the auditory canal directly before the eardrum of the person because then the signal formation of an acoustic signal would occur via the head and the external ear.
  • this is possible at best only with a hearing aid device worn in the ear.
  • the variation is minimal with regard to an ideal microphone input signal.
  • BTE behind-the-ear
  • the error in the acquisition of the acoustic signal originating from a signal source that exists due to the not-ideal arrangement of the microphone system outside of the auditory canal of a test person can be detected according to the invention by measurements and subsequently at least partially compensated.
  • the transfer function is determined between the external signal source and the location on the body at which the microphone system of the hearing aid device is located and, given the same external conditions (emitted signal, position of the signal source with regard to the test person) the transfer function is determined between the external signal source and the auditory canal of the test person who will be provided with the device.
  • the transfer function is determined between the signal source and the auditory canal, and the transfer function also is determined between the external signal source and the location on the upper edge of the external ear at which the microphone of the BTE hearing aid device will be when worn.
  • the transfer behavior of the external ear sought in the example can be easily determined from the respective transfer functions measured for different locations (in the example on the upper edge of the external ear and in the auditory canal), and in particular from the difference (in dB) of these transfer functions.
  • This transfer function describes the signal formation of an acoustic signal via the external ear, which is not considered in a conventional BTE hearing aid device.
  • the external ear transfer function on a synthetic head for example the KEMAR, can be determined.
  • microphones are arranged behind the ears of the synthetic head as well as in the auditory canals of the synthetic head, and the synthetic head is exposed to an acoustic signal originating from an external signal source.
  • the transfer function of the external ears thus can be determined, dependent on the signal frequency and the position of the signal source, from the differences between the signals respectively measured behind an ear and in the appertaining auditory canal. It appears that, with increasing displacement of the signal source from the synthetic head, knowledge of the precise position of the signal source is not necessary.
  • the transfer function can be determined to a good approximation, with merely the relative direction of the signal source with regard to the synthetic head (and thus, from the view of the synthetic head, the direction of incidence of the acoustic signal) being considered. If the transfer function of the external ear is known dependent on the frequency and the direction of incidence, from this a correction function can be derived that is to be applied to the microphone signal of the microphone disposed outside of the auditory canal in order generate therefrom it the same microphone signal that was generated in the auditory canal of the appertaining ear.
  • a further improvement of the signal transfer behavior of a hearing aid device is achieved by implementing the measurements directly with the hearing aid device, or at least a hearing aid device identical in construction, with which the test person is to be provided.
  • the internal signal transfer characteristics of the microphone system even the signal transfer behavior of the hearing aid device overall (for example the frequency paths of individual microphones of the microphone system or of the earpiece), can then be taken into consideration and at least partially corrected.
  • the filter in the microphone signal paths of the microphone system can be optimized, such that for each direction of incidence and frequency of an input signal, the microphone signal generated by the microphone system at least approximately coincides with a microphone signal generated by a test microphone in the same surrounding situation in an auditory canal of the test person.
  • the desired transfer function can be exactly determined for a specific measurement, characterized by the position of the signal source with regard to the head of the test person and the signal frequency of the sound signal.
  • the transfer function of the filter necessary for error correction can be optimized, dependent on the position and the frequency, using known optimization methods.
  • the microphone system of the hearing aid device have a number of microphones.
  • a microphone signal that would be generated in the same output situation by a microphone arranged in the auditory canal thus ensues from the entirety of the microphone signals generated and filtered by the individual microphones of the microphone system.
  • filter functions will be derived for different output situations.
  • filter functions can be calculated without dependency on the position of the signal source with regard to the test person, and in which the thereby ensuing error (for example, averaged over all acquired output situations) is minimized. The more measurements that are available and the more microphones in the microphone system, the better the optimization result.
  • information is acquired about the alignment of the head relative to the signal source from which the acoustic signal originates during the operation of the hearing aid device. If, for example, a hearing aid device has a directional microphone system with a number of different preferred reception directions, this information can be directly acquired by the microphone system by means of a simple level comparison of the microphone signals generated by the different directional microphones. If, however, the direction of incidence of the acoustic signal with regard to the head of the test person is known, only the previous correction function determined for this direction of incidence needs to be applied to the acquired microphone signal, so that the microphone signal at least approximately coincides with a microphone signal that would ensue in the same situation via a microphone arranged in the auditory canal of the test person.
  • this alignment of the signal source relative to the head of the test person is also to be detected and corrected by a suitable filter function that is also dependent on this variable.
  • the advantage of this embodiment in that the filter for correction of the signal error caused by the not-ideal position of the microphone system outside of the auditory canal can be very precisely implemented by the localization of the signal source.
  • a disadvantage is the necessity to localize the signal source as exactly as possible and the high calculation expenditure associated with this.
  • the microphone system has a number of directional microphones, and a filter for error correction is located in each signal path of each direction microphone.
  • Each filter is optimized with regard to the preferred reception direction of the directional microphone in whose signal path it is arranged.
  • the filter function of an individual filter arises from the knowledge of the signal transfer function of the acoustic signal emitted by the signal source between the position at which the directional microphone is located and a position in the auditory canal of the test person in alignment with the appertaining directional microphone, which is precisely aligned to the external signal source.
  • This embodiment can be designed for error correction only in a horizontal plane, or in three-dimensional space.
  • At least two directional microphones are necessary; for three-dimensional space at least three directional microphones are necessary.
  • the error correction is the better the more directional microphones that are used and the stronger their directional dipoles are fashioned.
  • This static correction filter can be subsequently connected given the use of a number of directional microphones. This is adjusted once for the appertaining preferred reception direction of the associated directional microphone and then is never changed again during the operation of the hearing aid device.
  • a directional microphone is fashioned from a number of omnidirectional microphones electrically connected with one another, it is thus easily possible to change the directional characteristic during the operation of the hearing aid device, and in particular the alignment of the direction dipole.
  • a correction filter connected subsequent to a directional microphone also can be adjusted to the same degree dependent on the alignment of the direction dipole. This has the advantage that an optimal adjustment to the acoustic signal source can be made in a microphone system with few directional microphones or only one directional microphone.
  • the correction filter connected subsequent to the directional microphone is then adjusted such that, in the hearing aid device, the transfer function of the external ear is copied for a sound signal that arrives from the direction in which the directional microphone is aligned.
  • FIG. 1 shows a test person in a test environment for explaining the invention.
  • FIG. 2 shows the alignment of a signal source with regard to a head, for explaining the invention.
  • FIG. 4 is an equivalent circuit diagram for the arrangement according to FIG. 3 .
  • FIG. 5 is a block diagram of a hearing aid device with correction filters in the microphone signal paths in accordance with the invention.
  • FIG. 6 is a schematic block diagram of a hearing aid device with a directional sensor in accordance with the invention.
  • FIG. 7 is a schematic block diagram of a hearing aid device with a number of directional microphones in accordance with the invention.
  • FIG. 8 illustrates an example for alignment of the directional microphones of the hearing aid device according to FIG. 7 .
  • the origin of the coordinate system is located in the exemplary embodiment at the position of the microphone MIC 2 in the appertaining auditory canal of the test person 1 .
  • the straight-ahead viewing direction of the test person 1 is preferably parallel to the y-axis of the coordinate system.
  • the x-axis is arranged at a right angle to this and, together with the y-axis, spans a horizontal plane.
  • the z-axis points perpendicularly upward.
  • the transfer function of the external ear in this specific microphone arrangement thus can be determined very precisely determined by a number of measurements, dependent on the frequency as well as the x-, y- and z-coordinates.
  • the displacement of the signal source S from the head of the test person 1 plays only a subordinate role given displacements of more than one meter.
  • the arrangement or projection of the signal source S in a horizontal plane that is defined by the x- and y-axes and also lies in the auditory canal of the test person 1 .
  • the knowledge of the angle ⁇ shown in FIG. 2 that encompasses the signal source S with the y-axis or the straight-ahead viewing direction of the test person 1 suffices in place of the x-, y- and z-coordinates.
  • the transfer function is then merely dependent on the frequency f of the acoustic signal and the angle ⁇ .
  • the angle ⁇ is to be determined with it as a further variable.
  • the invention allows at least partial compensation of the errors that arise due to the not-ideal positioning of the microphone system of a hearing aid device outside of the auditory canals.
  • a correction function is to be applied to the microphone signal received by the microphone system.
  • this correction function corresponds to the external ear transfer function determined according to FIG. 1 for a specific position.
  • the correction function implemented for error correction in the hearing aid device no longer has a variable direction dependency. The error correction thus can be optimized all the better the more microphones that the microphone system has.
  • FIG. 3 schematically shows the signal transfer in the auditory canal 5 of an ear 4 of an acoustic signal originating from a point signal source S in space.
  • the transfer function H applies for the direct path, meaning without treatment via a hearing aid device. This is dependent on the frequency of the signal source S with regard to the ear 4 and includes the signal formation via the head and the outer ear. Furthermore, the signal transfer using a hearing aid device with three microphones M 1 , M 2 and M 3 is depicted in the shown arrangement.
  • the transfer functions HM 1 , HM 2 , HM 3 as well as H 1 , H 2 and H 3 are dependent on the frequency of the emitted signal and on the position of the signal source S with regard to the ear 4 .
  • FIG. 4 graphically illustrates the correlation
  • FIG. 5 shows a hearing aid device 9 with three microphones M 1 ′, M 2 ′ and M 3 ′ in a block diagram.
  • the microphones M 1 ′, M 2 ′ and M 3 ′ are connected subsequent to the filters F 1 , F 2 and F 3 for error correction according to the invention. If the microphones in the worn hearing aid device 9 coincide in their positions with the microphones M 1 , M 2 and M 3 of the arrangement according to FIG. 3 , the filters F 1 , F 2 and F 3 can be determined and adjusted as specified above in the signal paths of the microphones for correction of the error in the microphone signal generated by the microphone system M 1 ′, M 2 ′, M 3 ′.
  • the transfer function H 1 is implemented according to the above optimization by the filter F 1
  • the transfer function H 2 is implemented according to the above optimization by the filter F 2
  • the transfer function H 3 is implemented according to the above optimization by the filter F 3 .
  • the cited signal error is thereby largely compensated and results in a signal at the output of an adder 6 that is a corrected microphone signal, that is further processed and amplified in a known manner in a signal processing unit 7 and, in the exemplary embodiment, is transduced back into an acoustic output signal and is emitted by an earphone 8 .
  • the exemplary embodiment only reproduces the principle functionality of a hearing aid device according to the invention.
  • the individual microphones must really, not virtually, be directly connected behind filters.
  • the determined transfer functions can be realized in the (preferably) digital signal-processing unit 7 .
  • the filters connected subsequent to the microphones could, in addition to the error correction, already realize further signal processing functions of the hearing aid device, and thus would not exactly implement the determined correction functions. It thus may be that the error-corrected microphone signal that is present at the output of the adder 6 appears nowhere in reality (as a measurable signal) in a real hearing aid device, but nevertheless an error correction is implemented in the sense of the invention.
  • the microphone signals of a number of microphones can be supplied to a filter for error correction.
  • the exemplary embodiment can be expanded to more than three microphones for signal acquisition. In general, however, at least two microphones are necessary in order to be able to actually implement an optimization dependent on the direction of incidence. The optimization succeeds all the better the more microphones (and therewith degrees of freedom) that are present.
  • a measurement arrangement adjusted exactly as in the exemplary embodiment need not be present.
  • the adjustment of a behind-the-ear hearing aid device with 3 microphones can also form the basis of measurements with a measurement arrangement according to FIG. 1 with only one microphone MIC 1 on the edge of the external ear 2 for signal detection.
  • the external ear transfer function is known dependent on the frequency and the angle of incidence for an external acoustic signal, filter functions can be determined from this purely through calculation, that are to be applied to the microphone signals of a hearing aid device with a number of microphones in order to reproduce the desired external ear transfer function in good approximation.
  • FIG. 6 shows a further exemplary embodiment of the invention.
  • a hearing aid device 10 shown in a simplified block diagram with a microphone 11 arranged outside of the auditory canals of a test person, a compensation of the signal error is provided as a result of the not-optimal microphone arrangement.
  • a filter 12 is located in the signal path of the microphone 11 .
  • the hearing aid device 10 has a signal-processing unit 13 for further processing and amplification of the microphone signal as well as an earphone 14 to reconvert the electrical output signal into an acoustic signal.
  • the hearing aid device 10 also has a sensor 15 with which the localization of a signal source, or the determination of the direction of the signal source relative to the head of the test person, is possible.
  • the direction of incidence of an acoustic signal in the hearing aid device (and with it the alignment of the signal source relative to the head of the test person) is first determined, it offers the advantage that specifically for this input signal the external ear transfer function dependent on the angle of incidence in the hearing aid device can be very precisely reproduced.
  • the filters preferably are realized with digital circuit technology.
  • an input signal in the filter can also undergo a signal amplification in the filter for specific frequency ranges.
  • parameters of the signal-processing unit 13 can be changed dependent on the direction determined by the sensor 15 . For example, it is possible that the amplification is raised in one frequency band and lowered in another frequency band, dependent on the determined direction.
  • the microphone 11 is replaced with a number of preferred reception devices (not shown).
  • FIG. 7 shows a further embodiment of the invention.
  • the hearing aid device 20 has the three directional microphones R 1 , R 2 and R 3 . These are respectively realized by the electrical connection of two omnidirectional microphones M 11 , M 12 ; M 21 , M 22 ; M 31 , M 32 , with delay element T 1 , T 2 or T 3 as well as an inverter I 1 , I 2 or I 3 being located in one microphone path of each directional microphone R 1 , R 2 or R 3 , and both microphone signal pairs M 11 , M 12 ; M 21 , M 22 ; M 31 , M 32 of the respective directional microphones R 1 , R 2 or R 3 are subsequently added into the summation points S 1 , S 2 or S 3 .
  • the directional microphones R 1 , R 2 , R 3 have different preferred direction devices. Filters F 1 ′, F 2 ′ and F 3 ′ that realize the signal transfer functions H 1 ′, H 2 ′ and, respectively H 3 ′ are connected subsequent to the microphones. The microphone signals of the directional microphones R 1 , R 2 , R 3 are subsequently merged into the summation point 21 . The signal processing then ensues in a known manner in a signal-processing unit 22 , and the reconversion of the processed microphone signals into an acoustic output signal thereupon ensues in an earphone 23 .
  • the filters F 1 ′-F 3 ′ effect a compensation of the signal error in the microphone signals that exists due to the not-ideal acquisition of an acoustic input signal by the microphones M 11 , M 12 ; M 21 , M 22 ; M 31 , M 32 outside of the auditory canals of a test person.
  • the filters F 1 ′-F 3 ′ are adapted to the directional microphones R 1 -R 3 in whose signal paths they are located.
  • the transfer function H 1 ′ of the filter F 1 ′ preferably coincides at least approximately with the transfer function that is necessary for correction of the microphone signal generated by the microphone R 1 , such that the corrected microphone signal corresponds to a microphone signal that would be acquired by a microphone arranged in the auditory canal of the ear provided with the hearing aid device 20 , and specifically for an auditory situation in which the directional microphone is aligned to the signal source.
  • the transfer functions H 2 ′ and H 3 ′ of the filters F 2 ′ and F 3 are also preset for the auditory situations for which the signal source is located in the respective preferred reception directions of the appertaining directional microphone.
  • the directional microphone that will supply the strongest microphone signal is the one with a preferred reception direction traversed by the incoming signal earliest, so a good approximation to the ideal microphone signal results overall via the shown arrangement.
  • FIG. 7 only schematically illustrates an embodiment of the invention with a number of directional microphones.
  • two omnidirectional microphones are sufficient whose output signals are respectively processed in parallel (delayed and added in a number of parallel microphone signal paths of a microphone) in order to generate a number of directional microphones with different preferred reception directions.
  • the hearing aid device 20 according to FIG. 7 also can be operated in a manner that corresponds to the operating manner of the hearing aid device 10 according to FIG. 6 .
  • the directional microphones R 1 -R 3 then form the direction sensor with which the alignment of a signal source can be determined relative to the head of a test person.
  • the microphone signals of the directional microphones R 1 -R 3 are supplied to the control and adaptation unit 24 that in particular determines the alignment from a level comparison of the individual directional microphone signals and adjusts the filters F 1 ′-F 3 ′ corresponding to the determined alignment.
  • FIG. 8 shows a preferred adjustment of the preferred reception direction of three microphones in the treatment of a test person.
  • FIG. 8 is a plan view of the head 30 of the test person with a left ear 31 and a right ear 32 behind which a hearing aid device 33 is arranged.
  • the preferred reception direction 34 of a first directional microphone thereby coincides with the straight-ahead viewing direction of the test person.
  • the preferred reception direction of a second directional microphone points in the opposite direction 37
  • the preferred reception direction 36 of a third directional microphone is at a right angle to the aforementioned preferred reception directions. All of the aforementioned directions preferably lie in a plane. Furthermore, it is possible for the preferred reception directions of further directional microphones (not shown) to lie outside of this plane.
  • a test person with a hearing aid device according to FIG. 7 and the adjustment of the directional microphones according to FIG. 8 thus can well localize a signal source in the plane.
  • directional microphones are also provided with vertical alignment (not shown), even the possibility of localization in three-dimensional space is achieved.
  • static filters are included in the microphone signal paths of the hearing aid device.
  • the filters are designed with a suitable method such that the sum signal of the filtered microphone signals for sound incidence from arbitrary spatial directions with an acceptable error tolerance corresponds to the signal that would be measured in the same sound situation given natural hearing in an open ear canal. In this manner, the directional contribution of the head and of the outer ear necessary for localization is electrically added via the filters.
  • the filters substantially reproduce the transfer properties of the external ear.
  • Microphones positioned at arbitrary locations are also compensatable. The filters then include the HRTFs and the inverted transfer functions for respective positions of the microphones.
  • a running localization of the sound source(s) can ensue with suitable localization methods that are preferably based on the sound analysis with multi-microphone arrangements (unilateral, bilateral).
  • suitable localization methods that are preferably based on the sound analysis with multi-microphone arrangements (unilateral, bilateral).
  • the HRTFs belonging to the current direction of sound incidence can then always be reproduced “online”, and the spectral modification of a sound signal acquired by the can be adaptively implemented.

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US10/692,231 2002-10-23 2003-10-23 Hearing aid device, and operating and adjustment methods therefor, with microphone disposed outside of the auditory canal Expired - Lifetime US7313241B2 (en)

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DE10249416A DE10249416B4 (de) 2002-10-23 2002-10-23 Verfahren zum Einstellen und zum Betrieb eines Hörhilfegerätes sowie Hörhilfegerät
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US20070036377A1 (en) * 2005-08-03 2007-02-15 Alfred Stirnemann Method of obtaining a characteristic, and hearing instrument
US20070160242A1 (en) * 2006-01-12 2007-07-12 Phonak Ag Method to adjust a hearing system, method to operate the hearing system and a hearing system
US20080181418A1 (en) * 2007-01-25 2008-07-31 Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. Method and apparatus for localizing sound image of input signal in spatial position
US20090110220A1 (en) * 2007-10-26 2009-04-30 Siemens Medical Instruments Pte. Ltd. Method for processing a multi-channel audio signal for a binaural hearing apparatus and a corresponding hearing apparatus
US20100046775A1 (en) * 2008-05-09 2010-02-25 Andreas Tiefenau Method for operating a hearing apparatus with directional effect and an associated hearing apparatus
US20100177910A1 (en) * 2008-04-10 2010-07-15 Yasuhito Watanabe Sound reproducing apparatus using in-ear earphone
CN103458347A (zh) * 2011-12-29 2013-12-18 Gn瑞声达A/S 具有改进的定位的助听器
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US20040136541A1 (en) 2004-07-15
EP1414268A3 (de) 2010-12-22
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